Last October, 75% of the containers loaded at the Port of Valencia originated in Madrid. Also 71% of the tonnage was of identical origin. And 77% of the containers that arrived would also later travel to Madrid. It is an example of the close economic interrelation that the Valencian Community maintains with that of Madrid, which today will be given a political boost with the celebration of the second business summit that will bring together companies and the regional presidents Isabel at the Madrid Casino. Díaz Ayuso and Carlos Mazón.
And beyond the political reading, which will result in the meeting being a reissue of that “axis of prosperity” that José María Aznar launched almost twenty years ago, the relations between both territories, whoever governs, are undeniable. This was stated in the report published in 2020 by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie), which, also with the help of Conexus - organizer of today's event - put in black and white the intensity of its socioeconomic relations.
One of them, key, is that the Community of Madrid is the first region of origin and destination of purchases and sales of Valencian companies. People from Madrid are bought mainly in the commerce sector, in motor vehicle manufacturing, the food and beverage industry, tobacco and construction. On the contrary, products and services related to commerce flow, and to a lesser extent, with professional, scientific and technical activities, financial and real estate services.
An intense relationship that is reflected, above all, in the transport of goods by road, since it represents “practically” all internal transport (94.7%), according to the Ivie. The Madrid-Valencia corridor is one of the main interregional flows, and its importance is also seen in railway flows, since while this transport at a national level stands at 5%, here it is 30%, a percentage in the that the Port of Valencia plays a significant role, the report highlights.
At the first summit held, a year ago, the then president of the Port Authority of Valencia Aurelio Martínez assured that 40% of the international goods managed by the Valencian port are linked to Madrid. “The port of València is the port of Madrid, we alone could not represent such a high percentage if it were not for the contribution of the Community of Madrid,” Martínez then remarked. This Tuesday, his successor, Mar Chao, will also speak at the event in a debate moderated by the Government commissioner for the Mediterranean corridor, Josep Vicent Boira, with the participation of the president of MSC, Francisco Lorente; the president of Sending, Juan Pablo Lázaro; and the president of Baleària, Adolfo Utor.
The northern expansion will be in the debate as well as the main challenges and possible proposals to achieve what the Conexus lobby considers "necessary" transformation of the Madrid-Valencian Community axis into a sustainable and innovative one, a request that was already carried out a few years ago when it was made public the aforementioned report.
At that time Conexus requested the expansion and digitalization of the port of Valencia, but also a system of storage and exchange platforms for goods on the A-3 itself that was accessible, “perfectly connected, ecological and digitalized.”
Large companies will also have to speak out on this proposal, since Jesús Alonso, president of Ford Spain, will participate in today's meeting; José Bogas, CEO of Endesa; Andrés Guevara, president of BP; and Javier Rivera, the financial director of PowerCo Spain, among others.
The business relationship is equally close between both territories. According to the analysis of the social capital of the companies included in the Ivie, the Community of Madrid is the main shareholder of Valencian companies, owning 47% of the capital.
